WakeWorld

WakeWorld (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/index.php)
-   Archive through May 25, 2007 (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=455062)
-   -   Water in my gas tank. (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=452964)

kalenk 05-24-2007 2:01 PM

So, I posted on here a while ago with a problem i was having.. when i would accelerate and get up to speed my motor would almost cut out, then back in,then out until it died... i changed the fuel filter and messed with some other stuff.. well i decided to take my fuel filter back off and empty it into a bowl to check for water in it.. and sure enough there was.. which means i have water in my fuel tank. Im going to siphon out a few gallons from the bottom to get it out. my question to you guys is, how do i keep this from happening.. and how did it happen when i put a fresh tank of gas in there? could it be condensation from the humidity??

kingskrew 05-24-2007 2:08 PM

Not really an answer to a question you asked, but I've heard of using isopropyl alcohol to fix water in a gas tank. Worth looking into, maybe someone will chime in here. <BR> <BR>-Steve

boarditup 05-24-2007 2:13 PM

DO NOT use alcohol in boat gas! <BR> <BR>Keep your tank full at all times. Refill when coming off the water. Use Sta-bil unless using it the next day. This preserves the octane rating and is much easier on your valves.

riverdave 05-24-2007 2:25 PM

Kalen, I'm not sure about wakeboard boats, but in the performance world water in gas is death! So we run fuel filters and water seperators. In some instances they are a combined unit. <BR> <BR>If your having problems with water in your fuel (which is a MAJOR problem, not to be taken lightly) <BR> <BR>Definatley install one of these units. There easy to install inline, and you can drain them easily before you run. The Fram one about half way down the page is what I'd get for your application. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.rexmar.com/page203.html" target="_blank">http://www.rexmar.com/page203.html</a>

azwakekid 05-24-2007 3:06 PM

just take the hose off of the fuel filter and hook up a pump and suck it out that way. cause the pickup in the tank is at the very bottom of the tank.

h2omantx 05-24-2007 3:12 PM

When you siphoned out the gas how much water did you find? How long had it been since between the time you last filled your tank full and when you noticed the water problem? Do you use STA-BIL or any other fuel saver?

rodmcinnis 05-24-2007 3:16 PM

Humidity wouldn't account for more than a few tablespoons worth of water. It would also be more of a problem during the summer than in the winter. <BR> <BR>Where do you gas your boat up? <BR> <BR>It is not unusual for the gas pumps at a marina to get contaminated, especially early in the season. If you gas the boat on the trailer at a normal gas station you are generally pretty safe as they will pump enough gas to keep water intrusion into their storage tanks from being a problem. At the marina, however, sitting idle for most of the winter can allow water to accumulate in the storage tanks. <BR> <BR>It is also possible that water entered your gas tank through the vent or even the filler itself. The vent line should be run such that it has a loop to prevent water from flowing from the vent to the tank but I have seen a number of installations where this important feature was not implemented. Without the loop, simply washing the boat can get water into the tank. <BR> <BR>If you only have a little bit of water in the tank then you can take care of it by simply draining your fuel filter frequently. If the problem re-occurs then you might want to install a filter that has a dedicated water drain to make the process a lot easier. <BR> <BR>Rod

ralph 05-24-2007 3:16 PM

Have you been doing much wake surfing? If so it might be coming in the gas breather when you boat is listing.

rallyart 05-24-2007 3:20 PM

Riverdave's suggestion of adding a water seperator is a very good idea. Condensation is the likely cause but you sometimes get bad gas. Boarditup's idea of keeping the tank full is good to keep the chance of condensation lower. If your boat is stored over the winter the tank should be full so less air can get in. Some people tape the vent when storing the boat too, but I would not do that. <BR>You <u>can</u> add alcohol to get water out of your system. You only use Ethanol and it needs to be less than 5% by volume. It acts as a cosolvent so that it bonds with the water and the gasoline to stay in solution. You only want to do this to get rid of water and not as a normal practice. It can pull water out of the air and it's harder on plastic parts. Drain the tank completely if you can as a first step to clear as much as possible. You can reuse the gas if you let it sit for about 10 minutes to make sure any water in the cans has had time to seperate.

kalenk 05-24-2007 5:24 PM

thanks for all your input... <BR>I have a water/fuel seperator..but it filled after only one outing... <BR>I gas up at gas stations only. <BR>the motor i have is a mercruiser 350 on an 86 sunsetter. I will try some sta-bil as well as look into a fuel water seperator that has a valve.... <BR>where does the vent hose usually run in the engine compartment? <BR>any other ideas?

kalenk 05-24-2007 6:15 PM

I sent you a PM Art.

rallyart 05-25-2007 7:32 AM

Kalen, I didn't get the PM. Actually I don't think it ever works for me, but I don't know why. <BR>You can send me an email to the address on my profile.

05-25-2007 7:51 AM

On turbo cars they use water/ alcohol injection on the manifold to keep the car from pinging with the lower octane gas. It allows people to increase timing and make more horsepower. At least some do it in California where you can't get high octane gas too easily. I don't really want to deal with such things myself, but, I thing it is pretty cool some of the things people come up with to increase power output. Of course, everything you do like that that is out of the norm probably has negative aspects as well.


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:35 PM.